Reviewi 111 Monika Kehoe, ed., Applied Linguistics: A Sur"ey for LangUilge T eachers, New York, Collier-Macmillan International, 1968, 154 pp.
In this brief text, Monika Kehoe, Chairman of Applied Lin-guistics at Marianopolis College, has brought together a set of original papers written to intro-duce teachers to the field of ap-plied linguistics, especially as regards second-language teach-ing. The topics that receive par-ticular attention include the his-tory of linguistics, the organiza-tion of language, contrastive an-alysis and Iinguistic interfe.r-ence, methods of language teach-ing, and the description of spe-cific programs in teaching Eng-Iish as a seco~d language. These subjects and others are com-pressed into six papers, an in-troduction where the editor tucks in a bonus paper by Wil-liam Moulton, and sorne con-cluding remarks. Two of the three appendices especially com-plement the main text: a select-ed bibliography and a list of in-formation sources on language instruction and teaching oppor-tunities around the world.
The development of linguis-tics as a discipline, parlicularly in the United States, is treated by Estrella Calimag in "The His-torical Background of Linguis-tics." European trends and the situation in Canada are sketched in Professor Kehoe's
Introduc-tion. These two papers, along with Moulton's essay, also at-tempt to coyer the internai or-ganization of language, and in-troduce the student to useful ter-minology. But the task is too mu ch for the few pages devoted to it. Many of the points in the exposition demand further re-finement, elaboration, and exam-pies to prepare the students ade-quately for the other chapters.
Several of these are given to the presentation of contrastive analysis, that is, the comparison of linguistic subsystems for sim-ilarities and differences in order to provide an understanding of language - learning difficult-ies and, by extension, ta provide a basis for the organization of instructional materials. This topic is handled by Gaston Saint-Pierre in "Language Learning," by C. Douglas Ellis in "Teaching Classical Languages: The Struc-tural Approach," and by L. Bruce Barkman in "Bilingual-ism and the Teacher of English as a second Language." The em-phases here, as suggested by the titles, are different: Saint-Pierre b'eats learning to speak and write a language in the class-room, Ellis convincingly brings classical languages to that set-ting in spoken form, while
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man wisely views the classroom as only one particular setting for language contact. Each writer gives detailed attention to the contrastive analysis of phonol-ogy that is certainly instruct-ive. But in this compact book, the elaboration of the same cen-tral points in three different chapters is a luxury taken at the expense of greater attention to grammar, vocabulary, writing systems and socio-linguistic con-texts of language use.
The chapters by Saint-Pierre and Ellis also exemplify how a given stance on linguistic struc-ture and its realization in speech can shape instructional mate-rials. Their arguments for what they caU the "oral approach" and the "structural approach," respectively, make sense in terms of their view of language and are, presumably, supported by their experience. But it is worth noting that A. V. P. Elliott later in the book questions linguists' authority on the matter of meth-ods, reminding us that they as-sure psychological principles along with their linguistic ra-tionale. These psychological prin-ciples are too often taken for granted. Because this is the case, EDiott's remarks on the doubts that some specialists in Britain hold for the virtues of applied linguistics should make for valu-able class discussion.
Reviewl
With his chapter entitled "Teaching and Training: The British Experience" and Monika Kehoe's "Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages," the book moves away from lin-guistics to an overview of teach-ing English as a second lan-guage. Elliott vividly describes the involvement of the British Empire - later Commonwealth - in establishing English pro-grams in Asia and Africa, teach-er-training centres in Britain, examination procedures, as weIl as courses to fit the needs of im-migrants. Dr. Kehoe" reviews North American programs, out-lines conditions that a teacher in a developing country might face, and examines English teaching in the specific context of Korean and Ethiopian society. Her aim here, and in her Con-clusion, is to enlarge her read-ers' view on the present and fu-ture of nations, their linguistic needs, and technical responses to these needs. Just as in the early chapters which introduce lin-guistics, Many of her points are stunted in their develQpment. But Dr. Kehoe's verve encour-ages the reader to pick up where she left off in projecting the place of second-language learn-ing in the twenty-first century.
Rose-Marie Weber Department of Lingaiaties Faculty of Arts and Science